CHAPTER II THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
A. Character and Characterization
A film could not be form without a story in it. It also happen in story, story could not be called as a story without any characters in it. In literary works
character and characterization are important elements because they build the story. In narrative or dramatic works it usually uses the term character and
characterization.
1. Definition of Character
a. Characters are the person presented in works of narrative who convey their personal qualities through dialogue and action by which the reader or
audience understand their thought, feelings, intentions and motives.
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b. A character is the representation of a person in a narrative or dramatic work of art such as a novel, play, or film.
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c. Character is someone in literary work who has some sort identity it need not be a strong on, an identity which is made up by appearance,
conversation, action, name, and possibly thoughts going in the head.
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http:web.uvic.cawguidepagesLTCharacter.html Accessed in June 4, 2010
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http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiCharacter_28arts29
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Richard Gill, Mastering English Literature, London, Macmillan Press ltd. 1995, p. 127
Main Character, according to Gill, is figures who hold an important role, dominant and high intensity in each conflict that builds a story, and they will also
usually be complex and fully developed.
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To say that someone is a character, it is suggested that he has a strange eccentric personality. To say that the character has characteristics, can be implied
through his moral righteousness. To say something about a persons character, needs to be involved discussion of his personal values behavior. As a literary
term, however, the character was created for a work of fiction.
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A well-developed character is one that has been thoroughly characterized, with many traits shown in the narrative. The better the audience knows the
character, the better the character development. Through characterization makes characters well-rounded and complex. This allows for a sense of realism. As an
example, according to F.R. Leavis, Leo Tolstoy was the creator of some of the most complex and psychologically believable characters in fiction. In contrast, an
underdeveloped character is considered flat or stereotypical.
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Character development is very important in character-driven literature, where stories focus not on events, but on individual personalities. Classic
examples include War and Peace or David Copperfield. In a tragedy, the central character generally remains fixed with whatever character flaw hamartia seals
his fate; in a comedy the central characters typically undergo some kind of epiphany sudden realization whereupon they adjust their prior beliefs and
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Ibid, p. 129
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Charles McGraw, Acting is Believing, a Basic Method Second Edition Rinehart Press, San Fransisco, 1996, p. 98
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http:en.wikipedia.orgwikiCharacter develop accessed in June 18, 2010
practices and avert a tragic fate. Historically, stories and plays focusing on characters became common as part of the 19th-century Romantic Movement, and
character-driven literature rapidly supplanted more plot-driven literature that typically utilizes easily identifiable archetypes rather than proper character
development. According to Perrine Lawrence, there are three principles that need to be
observed in characterization, there are: 1. The character are consistent in their behavior; they do not behave one
way on one occasion and a different way another unless there is clearly
sufficient reason for the change. 2. The character are clearly motivated in whatever they do, especially
there is any change in their behavior, we must be able to understand the reason for what they do, if not immediately, at least by the end of
the story. 3. The characters are plausible or life like.
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It means every character who presents the story always behaves as their real characteristic. The actors indirectly tell to the audience what the characteristic
in the story into their own character. The actor can apply their performance. Another principle is how to analyze a character. We can analyze character
from many aspects through the words, action, narrator, and description of another
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Perrine Lawrence, Literature, Structure, Sound and Sense, London: Harvcourt Bruce Javanovic.1984,5
th
.p.41
character. Analyzing through the words means that analyzing the words from the script of the story. Another principle of analyzing character is the action of every
character in the story. Their attitudes on acts indirectly indicate their personality and role.
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The character identity and personality are derived essentially from four things: 1 their actions-what they do: 2 their word-what they say and how they
say it; 3 their physical attributes-what they look like; 4 the responses of the other characters to them what other say or do to or about them. Of these however,
our sense of characters coherence derives mainly from his or her speech and actions. From these we gain a sense of who characters are and what they are
like.
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The character method is used by a writer to develop characteristic. The method includes 1 showing the character appearance, 2 displaying the
character actions, 3 revealing the character’s thought, 4 letting the character speak, 5 getting reaction of others.
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Based on definition above, the writer concludes that character is a person on literary work. Character in literature is an extended verbal representation of
human being, specifically the inner self that determines thought, speech and behavior. Thought, dialogue, action, and commentary, literature make these
interaction interesting by portraying characters who are worth caring about,
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Dian Wisudawati, 2008, Main Character Analysis in the Bluest Eyes. Jakarta: Paper, p.8
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Robert DiYanni, Literature Approaches to Fiction, Poetry and drama, New York, Mc Graw Hill Companies, 2002. Page 923
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http:www.tnellen.comcyberglit_termscharacterization.html. Accessed in June 17, 2010
rooting for and even loving, although there are also character whom public may laugh, dislike or even hate.
2. Kinds of Character
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